My father died in March 2003. He was 67 years old. Fortunately, we knew he wanted to be cremated, followed by a small private service. Not having to guess at his wishes made this terrible time much easier.

Despite Dad being fairly organized with a logical filing system, my family spent countless grief-filled hours over the following eight weeks looking for important documents, advisors, keys, and operating instructions.

A few months later, after my own daughter was born, I was driving home and started thinking "What if something happened to me tonight?

The short time invested in getting our affairs in order was well spent - we're finally organized and have real peace of mind.

-Mark Gavagan, author

What's In the Book?

The book's title, "12 Critical Things Your Family Needs To Know," refers to the twelve major areas of critical decisions and information the book guides you to provide for your family:

• Personal & Family Information

• Insurance

• Family Medical History

• Investments, Bank Accounts & Other Financial Assets

• Advance Health Care Directives

• Retirement Plans & Annuities

• Organ+ Donation Choices

• Real Estate: Your Primary Residence

• Final Arrangements

• Debts & Liabilities

• Wills, Trusts & Estate Plans

• Advisers

There's also more that doesn't fit neatly into the categories above, including:

· Where is the safe/safe deposit box/storage unit? What's in there and how can it be accessed?

· Should you be cremated? (this assumes you are dead, otherwise cremation can be quite uncomfortable)

· What is your blood type? Do you want to donate your organs?

· Location and keys for storage units and PO boxes.

· How can the alarm system or water supply be shut-off in your home?

· How expensive your final arrangements should be. Save thousands of dollars by answering one question (PDF article).